A variety of support devices are generally available for supporting long or unwieldy stock or work pieces being processed in stationary power tools, such as table saws, cut-off saws, radial arm saws, planers, surfacers, routers, shapers, etc. In connection with such power tools, it is commonly desirable to divide a movable support aligned with a table or other portion of the power tool in order to properly position long stock or work pieces on the power tool.
Generally, prior art support products have generally been of two types. A first type was bolted or otherwise attached to the power tool while extending outwardly from a table or other main portion of the tool. Such devices were understandably of limited use since they can only be spaced a relatively short distance from the power tool. Accordingly, they were often incapable of providing the type of support contemplated where necessary to handle long or unwieldy stock or work pieces in the power tool.
Another type of support device was of a freestanding type thus capable of movement relative to the power tool for overcoming the limitation referred to above. The most common freestanding type of support device included a single roller vertically adjustable on a tripod like base. Yet another freestanding support device available in the prior art included one or more rollers forming a top surface for a four-legged table.
Generally, these support devices were relatively bulky and difficult to store, particularly the table type device.
On the other hand, the tripod based support device was more compact and permitted vertical adjustment of the roller. However, for the same reason, the tripod based roller support was also relatively unstable while still presenting the requirement of storage space for the entire roller assembly and tripod base.
Other roller supports have been made available in the prior art for applications other than that specifically referred to above and contemplated by the present invention. For example, various roller designs particularly contemplated for unloading timber or the like from railroad cars were disclosed, for example, by U.S. Pat. No. 937,954 issued Oct. 26, 1909 to Pearson for a "Lumber Loading Mechanism"; U.S. Pat. No. 1,317,079 issued Sept. 23, 1919 to Duckworth for a "Lumber Loading and Unloading Device"; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,092,233 issued June 4, 1963 to Titchenal for a "Flexible Conveyor". The first two patents referred to above provided roller assemblies for mounting on railroad cars for unloading timber or the like. The third patent disclosed a conveyor wherein groups of rollers were contemplated for unloading material for railroad cars or other vehicles and particularly for transporting the materials along a curved path.
None of these conveyors or devices appeared suitable for use with a stationary power tool as described above. Reference is also made to U.S. Pat. No. 4,328,846 issued May 11, 1982 to Hanson for a "Extension Assembly for a Work Bench" which disclosed an extension assembly adapted for attachment to a clamping type work bench in order to provide an extension for the work bench itself. In this regard, the extension assembly of the above patent is unrelated to the present invention which is intended to provide an independent and adjustable roller support for a stationary power tool. However, the above patent is of interest since it disclosed an attachment or accessory for a clamping type work bench of a similar type as contemplated within the present invention. Accordingly, the above patent is incorporated as though set forth in its entirety herein in order to expand the disclosure of work benches of the type contemplated by the present invention.
In any event, there has been found to remain a need for an adjustable roller support attachment which can be readily stored and employed when desired as an independently movable and stable support attachment with an adjustable roller for facilitating the handling of long or unwieldy stock in stationary power tools. In that regard, the present invention particularly contemplates the handling of long lengths or panels of lumber, plywood and the like in stationary power tools such as those described above.